Given the historically unpredictable market cost of hydrocarbon fuels, electric-only and hybrid electric vehicles have become popular as a means for providing energy security and economy. Such vehicles have other benefits including noise reduction, emission reduction, and low vibration. Despite the many advantages of electric-only and hybrid electric vehicles, electric vehicles generally have a limited driving range compared to fuel-powered vehicles due to the higher energy density of fuels compared to the relatively limited energy density of most viable electric energy storage systems, e.g., various types of batteries.
Thus, to allow a user to use the vehicle in its preferred electric propulsion mode, it is desirable to charge the vehicle energy storage system in a timely manner, while minimizing energy costs and maximizing user convenience while charging. It is an object of the invention to provide such a system in various implementations. Nonetheless, it will be appreciated that the invention is not limited to systems that solve all of the problems noted herein. Moreover, the inventors have created the above body of information for the convenience of the reader and expressly disclaim all of the foregoing as prior art; the foregoing is a discussion of problems discovered and/or appreciated by the inventors, and is not an attempt to review or catalog the prior art.